Little Star- Safe in our Arms
by baby-kitsune9
Summary: Steve rogers and James Barnes are soulmates. They have been since the day that they had met. However fate has deemed fit to gift them with something unexpected- another soulmate. Sixteen year old Cassie Hart, kidnapping victim. not going to lie, some of this story has stuff implied. But it is a Steve/Bucky/OC story. hope that you like it.
1. Chapter 1

**Sorry I sort of had some trouble starting this- I kind of had a nervous breakdown the other day. I go to the doctor again tomorrow with the hopes that they will give me a stronger anti depressant.**

* * *

It was supposed to be a mission.

Granted they had had to do a lot of fucking planning just to get this far. But it was still a mission, nevertheless. And as such needed to be handled with the epitome of professionalism. The plan was simple, go in, free the girls and young women being sold into lives of prostitution and slavery- and get the hell out.

However all of that nearly went straight out the fucking window the second that Steve and Barne's made their appearances.

Like Nat, Clint and Thor the two super soldiers were dressed in tuxes. Their hair had either been trimmed or styled back away from their handsome faces. Steve looked like he had finally shaved the damned beard off. Thank god. And had even gone so far as to have his blond hair dyed a lighter shade of blond and colored contacts put in to change the already bluer than blue color to a nice fetching aquamarine.

Where as Barnes had decided to...be himself?

Well to be perfectly honest no one actually knew what the former Winter's Soldier looked like so maybe it didn't really matter. Though just to be safe, Tony had created a flesh colored bionic arm for him that he could use just like his metal one- though the newer model was far more sensitive to heat and cold and even touch.

Allowing Bucky to_ feel_ everything that his hand came into contact with.

Also as part of his cover, he was Steve's date. Or hubby rather, since no one outside of their little group even knew that the two were remotely romantically involved with one another. Though in the two men's defense it was easy to slip into such roles when they had both been born as soulmates.

Each carrying small birth-like marks on their bodies that matched the other's.

For Steve, it was a smaller and unbelievably indentical representation of his shield. Only it had chains wrapped around it and a white star in the center. Bucky's was similar, though his had chains and a red star in the center of it.

But that wasn't what nearly threw the whole damned mission off. Or perhaps it was. Soulmates were a peculiar thing. Some people were born with one, others were born with two, three- sometimes even five or more.

You see, Steve and Bucky were soulmates- everyone knew it. And had always assumed that the chains wrapped around each of their marks was simply fate's way of trying to tell them both that everything would be fine.

No one expected the unexpected in the form of a sixteen year old girl with wide green eyes and long strawberry blond hair until it was show time and they all watched in horror as the poor drugged girl was shoved unceremoniously into the middle of a stage by a mean looking man wearing a mask, wearing nothing.

_Nothing_ for fucks sake!

Except the thick heavy chains around her wrists and ankles, a look of utter horror and mortification on her pretty young face- and oh yeah- a shield and star mark wrapped in chains that rested on the left side of her collarbone for everyone to see.

Steve and Bucky had been doing well up until that point. Drinking expensive champagne from equally expensive heavy crystal flutes, and making small talk in between snarky comments to Stark over the radio.

However everything within them seemed to freeze up, their glasses shattering in their hands from being squeezed too hard as they stared with what could only be wide eyed shock and utter disbelief at the poor girl while beside them, Clint gaped like a fish opening and closing his mouth. And Nat swore and quickly told Tony to cut the damned power to the building and seal off all of the exits.

Everything from there was a blur of gun fire, screaming, throwing punches, and everyone (guilty or innocent) fleeing in terror.

With the exception of the girl on the stage, that is.

The moment that the lights went out, Steve, Bucky and the others practically leapt into action. Running to where the stage was located and listening for the sounds of a struggle, they managed to get their hands on the girl before she could be dragged away by the guy that had been standing behind her.

After which they had left her in Nat and Clint's care while the rest of them took out as many of the bad guys as possible before calling the local authorities to come and take the girls/women away while Nat sat on the Quinjet with the girl and whispered little nothings in her ear as she was given a tranquilizer to help keep her calm and help her to rest on their way back to New York.

While Steve and Bucky sat across from Nat and the latest addition of their weird little family, their hands laced together, gripping so tightly that it was a wonder that neither man managed to break the other's hand as they wondered how they had been so stupid as to _never_ even consider the possibility that their couple would never truly be complete without another person to balance them out.

* * *

The trip back to New York was fairly uneventful.

Their little soulmate had slept like the dead the whole time with her head resting in Nat's lap. Letting the older woman gently stroke her hair back from her face.

She was a pretty little thing for a kid, Steve supposed. Her long strawberry blond hair hung nearly down to her waist in layers that curled here and there at the tips. Her face was heart shaped, and so achingly lovely that she could give Nat a definite run for her money in the 'hotness' department.

Not that it mattered much to either of the super soldiers.

Her age, gender, past, hell even the trauma of being dragged into a human trafficking ring- didn't matter to either of the men. Because their possessive and protective instincts had been pulled to the forefront of the both of their minds the moment that they had spotted her on the stage wearing nothing but her birthday suit and _their_ mark.

"What do you plan to do with her?" Nat asked after being silent for almost half of the trip.

"There isn't a whole lot that we can do currently. She isn't of age. And won't be for another two years or so."

"Then what do you wish to do?"

"Find her family. Have her go to counseling. Let her live her life for the next two years or so- so that she can heal and then slowly insert ourselves in it and woo her like she deserves." Steve said. His response was curt, short, sweet and straight to the point. However it was flawed.

Even Bucky knew that the possibility of actually being able to find her family and leave her alone to heal for two years wouldn't be enough. Especially if they couldn't find her family because she had been an orphan or something. And then there was the whole leaving her alone thing- that was out of the fucking question.

Hydra knew what Bucky's soul mark looked like and _whom_ it belonged too.

Because of this, it would be far better to keep her where they could keep an eye on her and protect her just to be safe. Steve wasn't thinking of this right now. He was still so busy processing that they had a second soulmate that he couldn't see what was really right for the girl.

Oh they would _try_ to find her family- if only to appease Steve's damned sense of honor. They would try to give her two years to heal from her experiences while in the hands of the people from the trafficking ring if she truly needed it.

However there was no way in hell that Bucky was leaving the girl alone. He'd rather die first than lose even one of his soulmates. And though the girl had been an unexpected complication to an already somewhat complicated relationship- she was fucking theirs.

He needed no other reason than that to protect her. And despite the fact that Steve's poker face was almost as good as his own, he knew deep down inside that he felt the same.

"She will need to be checked out by medical-" Steve's head swung in his direction so quickly that he could almost hear the bones at the base of his skull protesting the moment. "There is no telling how long she has been in that hell hole. Not to mention what may have been done to her."

Nat nodded her head in confirmation as she continued to stroke the girl's hair back from her face as she continued to sleep. "Medical has already been contacted," Tony said as he came out of the cockpit and took a seat off to the side of everyone else and stared at the girl with a small frown on his face before then tacking on, "I've already left instructions for them to meet us when we get back to the tower. Due to extenuating circumstances they'll be doing some blood work and examining her while she's asleep. Afterwards if she's okay enough to spend the night close to you two, then I'll set her up on your floor. In the meantime I'm already running a program that will use a picture of her face to hopefully find her family and any information on her."

"Thank you Tony." Bucky said gently, not wishing to disturb the _zvyozdochka_. Tony shrugged his shoulders and finally looked away from the girl before saying,

"You guys would do the same for me and my soulmate if our roles were reversed." It was true, they would. So they said nothing else for several moments before Tony finally said.

"I'm also planning to sign papers granting temporary guardianship of her just in case her family can't be found or something. I'll have to work fast on setting up a room for her on your floor. Get the essentials that every girl her age needs and whatnot. But...If we can't locate any living kin, she'll be living with us. I hope you guys are okay with that."

Steve was silent as he mulled over what Tony had just said before curtly nodding his head.

Tony merely muttered something under his breath and sat back in his seat to wait for either the trip to end or his program to get a hit.


	2. Chapter 2

Two days later-

Steve and Bucky had taken up temporary residence in the same room as their young newly found soulmate, once her exam with the medical team was completed. Neither man wanting to leave her alone after _what_ the medics had found out about her health.

It had been two days since their return to the tower. Two days since the amazing, and completely _nerve wracking_ discovery of their precious 'little star' as Bucky had so aptly dubbed her.

Not that Steve minded any.

It was a damned cute nickname in his opinion and seemed to fit her just fine. Because that's what she was to them. So they had both taken to calling her that since Tony had disappointingly yet to get a hit on his facial recognition software so that they could learn her _actual_ name.

Their poor little star had slept practically undisturbed the entire trip back to the tower from where she had been held prisoner, and even somehow managed to sleep through the medical team's poking and prodding, and taking blood from her before she had then been moved to her current location on their floor.

Just next door from their room (via Tony's orders) for convenience sake.

Tony had also- just for convenience sake- already gone over the small medical file that held every bit of information that they had managed to get so far- and had ordered her a whole wardrobe of all the latest teen styles and trends with the help of Pepper and Nat.

He had even ordered some of the other things too.

Things like makeup, perfumes, scented lotions, some sterling silver fashion jewelry, nail polish and remover, hair barrettes and ribbons and ties in various colors that would make her beautiful hair and eyes pop.

Bucky had already found a nice pastel color ribbon that had various shades of soft yellow, pink, blue and green in it in such a way that it looked like someone had taken a paint brush to it and painted it.

He called it the watercolor ribbon.

And he'd already spent some time mentally playing out in his head how their little star would ware it in various styles. So far, Bucky was enamored with the braid idea and the up off of the nape ponytail idea.

Steve didn't really seem to care which way the girl wore her hair, just as long as she didn't cut it any unless it was damaged or something. He'd spotted something unusual about the color of her hair last night while Bucky had finally crashed and fallen asleep for a little while. And while he was inclined to share his finding- at the same time he didn't exactly feel like it.

He kept hoping that the light from the window would hit the girl's hair just right when Bucky glanced over at her so that he'd finally see it too.

While strawberry blonds weren't exactly rare these days due to hair dye and such, Steve had almost dropped his jaw when he had noticed that their little star's hair tended to have more than simple reddish blond hues to it. It also had a pretty pink-ish undertone mixed with some light ash blond tints too.

He'd bet anything that when Bucky found out he'd actually be struck speechless. And frankly, the thought amused him greatly. But what would probably amuse him more would be how Bucky would trip all over himself to wait on their little gal hand and foot once she awoke.

The man had always been oddly sweet when it came to dames.

Hell the first time he'd met Nat after he had undergone reprograming to get rid of the Hydra shit in his mind, he'd practically jumped out of one of T'challa's palace windows and run off, shocking everyone into stunned silence for a good little while. Only to return a while later with a huge armful of wildflowers, freshly picked from one of the open fields.

It was probably more flowers than anyone had handed to Nat in her whole entire life.

And when asked, Bucky had merely said that 'Pretty dames deserved pretty things.'

Nat had blushed prettily and thanked him with a kiss on the cheek that had had him giggling like a giddy schoolboy whom just had his first kiss. His reaction to Pepper was similar. Though not quite as extreme. Either way, Pepper had wound up with flowers. And Tony had taken to carrying a spritz bottle full of water to warn Bucky away from his girl with.

In little star's case, they would have to proceed with caution due to what she had suffered at the hands of the people who had had her for an undisclosed amount of time. Sue he didn't doubt that Bucky would try to be cautious and not overwhelm the kid.

But at the same time...Steve couldn't help but _worry_ a little bit.

When little star finally awoke, she would likely be very scared. So much so that she may lash out or something or even try to escape. And while those things were normal for someone who had been in her position for god knows how long. He very much doubted that she would warm up to anyone who was a male for a good long time.

He'd spoken to Bucky about this in length before he had crashed the night before just to make sure that his soulmate understood that while it was okay to be sweet on their little star, he couldn't be so obvious about it that she became so overwhelmed that she simply stopped functioning and went catatonic on them altogether.

Bucky had said that he understood.

And had even promised to hold himself back as much as he could. But he had also voiced concerns about his own anxiousness to be accepted by her later on.

Steve had merely leaned over and kissed him and told him that as long as they gave her some space then everything would be fine. She would accept them.

Finally finishing putting their meals together, Steve picked up and carried both of their plates into the bedroom to find that Bucky had gone totally silent. Frowning a bit because he hadn't really noticed that he wasn't speaking anymore, he paused in the bedroom doorway to see what Bucky was doing now and cocked his head when he noted that his soulmate was staring down at the girl with an slightly perturbed expression on his face.

"Something wrong Buck?"

"I keep wondering when she'll wake up," Bucky said very softly as he turned his head to look at Steve for a sec. "She looks so tiny and frail. I'm worried that if she doesn't wake up soon, then she'll wind up wasting away. I mean, she hasn't woken up to use the bathroom, shower, and do...ya know, dame stuff. She also hasn't eaten anything in who knows how long. She needs to wake up. S-Should we try to wake her? Maybe shake her awake or something?"

"The medics said to let her sleep Buck. She's exhausted. She'll wake up when she stops feeling so tired. Try not to worry unless she sleeps more than a week, okay." Steve said as he handed Bucky his plate and then gracefully dropped down to the floor and settled himself next to the bed and took a bite of his food while Bucky looked back at little star and heaved a sigh before then saying.

"Your right. I mean I know that your right. But I can't help but worry Steve. _She's ours._ If anything happened to her- we would never be totally complete again."

Steve made a humming sound around his mouthful of food and then finally swallowed before then saying in a coaxing manner, "I have an idea, since our girl is too tired to do it herself at the moment. How about we go through the box of fingernail polish and you can doll up her nails for her."

Bucky seemed to consider what he said for all of a second before his face lit up like the fourth of july and a grin stretched across his lips as he excitedly said, "Green- it has to be green. Not anything dark and horrible. Something pale and pretty that will match her eyes. Or maybe we can find a nice aquamarine color. Or even a pink maybe? What do you think Steve?"

"I think that any or those would work just fine. But first you need to eat Buck."

"Okay!" Bucky chirped happily as he practically inhaled his food in record time and then demanded that Steve hand him the damned box of nail polish so that he could look through it and go to work. Steve merely snorted and handed him the box and then left the room shaking his head at Bucky's antics as he began to systematically go through each and every color available while muttering about which ones would suit her.

He made it halfway back to the kitchen when Tony finally messaged him about getting a hit on his facial recognition software. Steve set the plates aside on the counter top so that he could wash them later and decided to leave Bucky to watch their girl while he went to see what Tony found out.


	3. Chapter 3

Tony and the others were waiting for him when he stepped into the common room on the main floor. A holographic image of little star hung was in the center of the room being studied by the others as Tony turned to him with a frown and said, "Found you're girl. Name's Cassandra 'Cassie' Hart, age sixteen. Born on October the thirteenth. Height and weight at the time of her disappearance was four foot nine, her weight was seventy five pounds- _Jesus Christ_," Tony muttered underneath his breath before asking no one in particular, "Was she even healthy when she was taken?" Scrolling down a bit further underneath the image, and swore something foul as he read.

"Was hospitalized at two with leukemia at the age of two with second stage cancer- was discharged at eight when cancer finally went into remission. No wonder she barely weighed much, according to this she developed a serious lack of appetite due to being sick all the time. She was taken at ten, her parents and older brothers were found dead a week later. Her younger brother's body is _still_ missing and is assumed it is assumed that he has been kidnapped as well. Jesus tap dancing Christ, that means that she's been missing for six years!"

Steve frowned at Tony's word vomit and took his time looking over the image of a six year old Cassie in a hospital room, peeking up at the person taking her picture from over the top of a large stuffed bunny's head. Her green eyes narrowed, her pretty hair was much thinner than it was now, and was cut short in a cute shoulder length bob.

She wasn't smiling in the picture which meant that she was obviously displeased. In fact her expression somewhat reminded Steve of a little crocodile. It was weird just how adorable he found the expression. Despite the fact that she looked to be a tad bit _irked_ at that particular moment in time.

It also made him wonder if she still tended to get that expression on her face when she was displeased with something. Unless of course the expression had been beaten out of her over the past six years by her captors and abusers.

Tony asked him something, but he was so lost in his own thoughts that he missed the question until he felt someone- Clint maybe?- elbow him in the side jolting him out of his thoughts long enough to hear Tony ask him again if she had woken up yet.

Upon him shaking his head no, Tony muttered something under his breath and got a frustrated look on his face before then asking where Bucky was.

Steve merely told him that he was still with Cassie, though he didn't say much else. He didn't want Clint nor anyone else to tease Bucky about painting their gal's fingernails for her to help pretty her up. If they pushed too much, Bucky would likely retaliate.

And then...chaos would reign in their home until everyone was made by him or Nat to _stop _the teasing and retaliation. Of course by the time either of them managed to actually step in and stop things there was a good chance that their home would be reduced to rubble.

"What's going to happen now?" Steve finally asked as he looked away from the image of his young soulmate. The fact that she had been so ill as a child not sitting any better with him than the fact that she had been kidnapped and abused for six years when she should have been going to school, going outside playing, making friends and such.

Tony sighed, "It looks like I'll be signing those guardianship papers."

"I'm sorry." Steve said automatically knowing that trying to raise an traumatized teen wasn't going to be an easy task for Stark. He already had health issues as it was. How was he going to take care of a teenage girl that would need almost constant supervision?

Tony waved his apology away, "No biggie. I happen to like kids..." He grimanced a little bit before then tacking on, "The fact that she's not only tall enough, but old enough to know how to fix her own food if I forget to feed her just makes her all that much more appealing as an adopted child. I mean, with my lab habits and insomnia I'd be incredibly worried for anyone _under_ the age of ten. I mean, can you imagine me adopting anyone under that age? I would go into the lab and walk out three or four days later on a coffee run to find a little corpse!"

Steve made a mental note to have Clint or Bucky keep a close check on Cassie while in Tony's care. Not because he didn't trust Tony to actually be able to take care of her. But well...he didn't trust his habits to be very healthy for her.

"I'll also have the blood that was taken tested specifically for any new traces of cancer cells, and plan a treatment for them if they are found present" Tony said suddenly out of the blue causing Steve to involuntarily tense up. "Just to be on the safe side and all that jazz." The words, _We can't let the kid die. Not now_. Hung unsaid in the air between them.

Steve gave him a curt nod of understanding and then requested that he send everything to his tablet so that he and Bucky could look it over.

He doubted that Bucky would be very pleased with a lot of the information. Specifically the fact that she had been sickly as a child and hadn't really had a chance to recover before she was taken. But there was little that Steve could do about that.

Once Tony told him that he'd send everything, Steve nodded again and then turned on his heel and walked out of the room to return to Cassie's room and check up on her and Bucky.


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry this is both late and possibly doesn't make any sense. **

**Steve wasn't sure what to say in his conversation at the bottom.**

* * *

Bucky had just finished painting little star's nails and was in the process of gently blowing them dry so that the paint job wouldn't get smudged or messed up while mentally patting himself on the back for a job well done. He had never really painted a dames nails before so he was proud of how his painstakingly careful work had turned out.

He'd chosen a nice mint color as a base for his work. Having wanted something that would match the pretty green of her eyes the one time that he'd seen them open the night of her rescue. After he had painted her nails the pretty color, he had then picked several others to compliment it.

A soft pastel pink, a pastel purple, a robin's egg turquoise, and white were also used to make the nails on each of her index and ring fingers look as if they were covered in a plaid pattern that was just...beautiful. While the tips of the rest of her mint green nails had been painted the turquoise color.

He had based the style of the paint job on something that he'd seen on a woman coming out of a nail salon once.

At the time he'd thought that the plaid look on the woman's claw like fingernails had looked trashy. But then again, now that he thought about it and got a good look at his work. Maybe it hadn't been so much the style as the colors chosen.

Gently blowing on his and Steve's gal's finger tips, and trying desperately not to accidentally spit on her- because nothing was more mortifying to a man trying to do something nice for a dame than spitting on her- he almost didn't notice the subtle twitch of little star's fingers until they almost jerked in his hold.

Startled, Bucky dropped both of her hands and quickly scurried away from the bed and watched wide eyed as she slowly, very slowly. Like so damned slowly that he was tempted to go get glass of cold water and pour it over her- watched as her eyes began to open a bit and then close repeatedly.

Quickly slapping a hand over his mouth to keep himself from making any sound that may startle or frighten her, Bucky watched in wide eyed wonder as little star's eyes finally fluttered for the last time and then completely opened.

She lay perfectly still for several moments, just staring blankly ahead at the ceiling before then slowly pushing herself up onto her elbows and looking around the room with a small frown as Bucky's sharp ears heard the faint sounds of Steve's return.

He could hear the rustling of clothing and Steve's boots being removed before he then made his way towards the bedroom where they were currently located and Bucky automatically began to flap his arms and flail around in a few short seconds of utter panic as Steve started to step through the door and paused upon taking in the scene before him.

1) Bucky was freaking out and making like he was a bird and trying to fly or some shit. (He_ knew_ he would regret letting him watch those documentaries on aviation.) Though he should suppose that he should count himself lucky that Bucky hadn't tried to make his own set of wings out of cardboard, superglue and duct tape and jumped off of the roof just yet.

And 2) Cassie was finally awake.

Which from the looks of things seems to have in some way contributed to Bucky's weird melt down. _Awesome. _He thought semi sarcastically as Cassie eyed him in disbelief and fear. Taking a deep breath, Steve put on his friendliest, most non threatening expression and said in a very soft and gentle tone, "Hey, princess,"

Watching her eyes widen even further as she quickly scrambled back on the bed until her back was flat against the headboard, he saw her begin to shiver and tightly fisted his hands at his sides until his fingernails dug so deeply and painfully into his skin that his palms bled from his want of reaching out and pulling her into a hug.

But he knew that he couldn't. The things done to her at the hands of those monsters would linger for some time. Right now she needed to heal. And he needed to be willing to do whatever it took to help her. If that meant pretending to be her handler- then by god he'd do it.

No matter how damned much it turned his stomach and made him feel _ill_ to do so.

"My name is Steve. And the guy over by the window pretending to be a fruit loop is named James-" She frowned and turned her head in Bucky's direction, catching him making hand signs for 'No' and 'abort mission' in mid sign, causing him to freeze up for a second and smile at her in a comically awkward manner.

"We're you're new handlers." He hated himself the moment that the words left his mouth. Not just because Cassie looked utterly devastated and on the verge of tears, but Bucky looked pretty bad himself. Almost as if Steve had slapped him if truth be told.

"We got you because..." He tripped himself up here because he knew that no matter what he said to try and assure her that she was going to be okay- she wouldn't truly feel safe with him or Bucky for a good long time. So he tried a different approach. "Actually we only helped to get you. Our friend, Tony is actually the one who is now your guardian,"

Yes, this sounded so much better than handlers, trainers, ect. Steve thought somewhat in relief.

"You see the underground auction was shut down by the authorities- the _real_ ones, but no one knew where to put you. So Tony signed legal documents to keep you. Congratulations kiddo- you've been adopted!" Steve said in a mock excited manner as Bucky face palmed and mouthed, _'Idiot'_ at him as Cassie sat perfectly still for several heartbeats before her eyes rolled back in her head and she fell out of the bed.

And would have hit the floor if Bucky hadn't have quickly caught her in his arms and then turned his head to glare at him.


	5. Chapter 5

Bucky didn't have to say a single word to Steve to convey his disappointment in him for how his little 'talk' or rather his one sided conversation with little star had gone. On one hand, he felt happy to finally know_ something_ about their young soulmate aside from the fact that she was female and a stone cold fox. But at the same time, he was so damned pissed with Steve that he could kick the shit out of the punk.

One did not go up to a mere kid of the tender age of sixteen- especially one that had been kidnapped, abused in god knows what ways- and announce, 'Congratulations! You've been adopted by a _guy_!' unless you wanted said kid to throw themselves out of the nearest window screaming bloody murder.

No. It simply wasn't done.

"Friday, the windows are bullet proof tempered glass right?"

"Yes Mr. Barnes. May I ask why?"

"Just checking." Bucky muttered before redirecting his stormy gaze at Steve who was slumped over in his seat looking like someone put his puppy in a fucking blender. Which if they had had an actual puppy, Bucky probably would have threatened to do just that.

"Buck-"

"Nu-uh." Bucky rudely cut Steve off as he began to slowly pace back and forth in a little circle, a clear sign about how agitated he truly was.

"But-"

"I said _no_ Steve." Bucky cut him off again, while raising his voice just a tad. Steve opened his mouth to try saying something for a third time, and Bucky literally _growled_ at him like a rabid dog. Effectively shutting the blond up as the former Winter's Soldier continued to pace a little bit while he stared him down before finally asking in a deceptively calm tone.

"Can you tell me what you did _wrong_ during your little talk with our gal?"

"Um..."

"I'm a very patient man Steven, but even I will kick the shit out of you if you don't answer me right fucking now." Bucky spat in an angry tone causing Steve to inwardly cringe. Whether it was from the threat of bodily harm or the fact that he was just pissed enough to actually carry through with his threat- he didn't know.

And frankly, he didn't give a good goddamn right then because Steve had earned a good ass kicking.

"I-I referred to us as...uh, handlers..." Bucky curtly nodded his head and motioned with his hands for him to continue speaking. "And springing the whole adopted thing on her?"

"That sounded strangely like a question to me _Rogers_." Bucky snapped, knowing that Steve wouldn't like having him use his last name in such a manner. Because the bite to his tone coupled with the way he used his name was a clear sign that Steve would be sleeping on the couch indefinitely- or at least until further notice.

And if there was one thing Steve hated it was sleeping on the couch.

"Come on Bucky- it wasn't like I had a ton of time to rehearse the conversation to begin with. And how exactly was I supposed to tell her that she's safe now? Hn? Granted referring to us as her new 'handlers' may not have been the best damned idea in the world, but did it ever occur to you that given the amount of time she's been in captivity- her former handler's may have been the only people that made her feel safe?"

"That's all well and good that you managed to think of that Steve, however there is a flaw in your thinking."

"Oh what the hell is that?"

"Handler's- regardless of who they are or how...civil or 'nice' will always follow orders," Bucky snarled at him, watching the color drain from his face as he simply uttered an horrified sounding 'oh' and put his hand over his mouth as Bucky said, "If they have orders to beat the hell out of you- then that's what they'll do. If they have orders to break you- one of the best ways is to act like they are attached to you and then do the worst things imaginable to you."

"We don't know what exactly her handler's orders were before we saved her- so telling her that we're the same as them- is damning. For all we know right now, she's utterly terrified of us because she expects to be beaten and raped by us publicly to entertain the masses."

If Steve could turn any whiter- he probably would have. As it was he just barely managed to get up out of his seat and stagger past Bucky in time to start dry heaving into the kitchen sink.

Bucky merely sighed and ran his metal fingers through his messy shoulder length hair as he turned to check on Steve for a second before then grabbing a Ginger Ale- that Steve had taken to getting him for whenever he had night terrors and his stomach got upset- from the fridge and some crackers from the cabinet just to the left of where Steve was hunched over hacking up his lunch and set them both down on the counter where Steve could grab them when he was done.

He figured that after getting sick like that, his Stevie would want to munch on some crackers and cuddle while he brooded for a bit.

Finally after fifteen minutes or so, Steve ran the tap to wash away the evidence of his illness and grabbed the drink and crackers before sinking down to the floor and settling himself against Bucky's side as he tore open the crackers and quickly dug one out and stuffed part of it in his mouth while Bucky put an arm around him and ran his fingers through his short blond hair and merely said, "I was cruel Stevie. And you didn't deserve that from me. I'm sorry doll."

Steve merely hummed as he slowly finished his cracker before saying slowly, "S'fine. I get it. I wouldn't have unless you were cruel about it."

"Doesn't make it right."

"Maybe not. But I can still forgive it."

"We'll have to be very careful when we handle Cassie." Bucky warned him.

Steve nodded and grabbed another cracker and popped it in his mouth and muttered around it, "Yeah. We will."

"We'll need a plan so that we don't fuck things up again."

"I'll leave that to you since you have a better understanding of how a handler might act."

Bucky sighed and kissed Steve on the cheek before muttering, "I really wish that you hadn't of said that."


End file.
